Tales of a Shattered Order
by C0nn34
Summary: This story takes place about two decades after Revan left for the unknown regions and never returned. The Jedi Order is slowly rebuilding as is the Republic. The story itself basically follows Bastila and Revan's daughter Caeda, as well as several others.
1. Chapter 1

**Tales of a Shattered Order**

**Dramatis Personae**

Canderous Ordo, Mandalore (male human)

Cain Ordo, Mandalorian mercenary (male human/Taung hybrid)

Kreed Fett, Mandalorian mercenary (male human)

Orar Bralor, Mandalorian (male human)

Runi Bralor, Mandalorian (female human)

Valen Credos, Smuggler (male Kiffar)

Elena Loris, Jedi Initiate (female Echani)

Brianna Kae, Jedi Weapons Master (female Echani)

Scyff Hadronis, Smuggler (male Zabrak)

Bao-Dur, Jedi Tech Specialist (male Zabrak)

Khaleed Surge, Former pirate (male Weequay)

Ariel Sala'am, Freed slave (female Twi'lek)

Mission Vao, Republic Captain (female Twi'lek)

Bastila Shan, Jedi Master (female human)

Jolee Bindo, Jedi Grand Master (male human)

Atton Rand, Jedi Master (male human)

Mical, Jedi Historian (male human)

Mira, Jedi Master (female human)

Caeda Shan, Jedi Knight (female human)

Merrick Shan, Jedi Knight (male human)

Juhani, Jedi Master (female Cathar)

Visas Marr, Jedi Master (female Miraluka)

Carth Onasi, Republic Supreme Admiral (male human)

Dustil Onasi, Jedi Master (male human)

Gil Surrey, Jedi Padawan (male Nautilan)

HK-47, assassin (Droid masculine programming)

T3-M4, (Astromech Droid)

**From the Ashes**

**One year **after the former Jedi Exile left known space in search for the elusive rogue Knight Revan, the individuals who they left behind return to the old temple on Coruscant to attempt to rebuild the broken Jedi Order. There is much to do though before the temple can accept new generations of Jedi Knights. Many members of the Republic Senate and the citizens of the Republic itself still hold resentment towards the Jedi due to their roles in two previous galactic wars. There was also the lack of funds to take into account, without which new training equipment and structural repairs would not be requisitioned any time soon. After the apparent mistrust and even outright hatred received from the general populace and lack of financial resources one other major obstacle remains. How to find and recruit new members into the Order and who would be appointed as the Grand Master of the ragtag Council. To his great dismay the oldest and wisest surviving member of the Council, Jolee Bindo was made the official new Grand Master. Bindo quickly enacted a strict training regiment for the 'children' as he so called his fellow Jedi, because in order to train young Jedi the Masters themselves must be well trained themselves. Over the next decade, the stricken Jedi Order slowly prepared itself to return to the galaxy at large. Over time, Bastila Shan's two young children Merrick and Caeda Shan trained intensely to become among the first Knights of a new order. Merrick developed many of his mothers' personality traits and a similarly stoic demeanor, often locking himself within the Temple's grand archives and studying the ancient texts of the old Masters for days at a time. Caeda on the other hand developed into a very friendly, personable young woman with a strong sense of adventure, often showing up late or forgoing training altogether so that she can have more time to explore the massive cityscape of the Galactic Capital. Upon his promotion at the age of thirteen to the rank of Padawan Merrick chose to follow the path of a Jedi consular and seek to master the ways of the Force under his new master Dustil Onasi. When she gained the rank of Padawan at the age of twelve Caeda chose to follow her mother's path and begin her training as a Jedi Sentinel under the watchful if not lenient eye of Atton Rand.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the galaxy Mandalore the Preserver returns to the world of Mandalore with his reunited clans and reclaims the traditional Mandalorian homeworld. It is while Mandalore walks through the remains of an old settlement on the world's freezing Polar Regions that he comes across a young boy huddled in a frozen hut barely alive. Impressed by the child's strength and will to survive Canderous formally adopted the boy as his own son giving him the name of his grandfather Cain. Upon returning to Keldabe many clan elders gave the small child their highest blessings for in his veins ran the blood of the Taung, the original Mandalorian species. As the years passed, Cain would develop into one of clan Ordo's finest youth warriors, and passed the trials for adulthood one year early at the age of twelve. It was clear that great battles lay ahead for the son of Mandalore.

**A Rocky Start**

**Hyperspace: Ten Years after Cain's Trials**

**Cain Ordo **sat in the cockpit of his modified light freighter the Black Phoenix watching the wake of hyperspace flash past him en route to the world of Yavin. He could always find solace in hyperspace travel, something about the sound of the hyper-drives rumbling helped him to think more clearly. The thoughts of past fights gone wrong and friends lost didn't haunt him as much as they did while he spent time planet-side. A soft tired groan roused him from his deep contemplations as he looked down at the young girl who occupied the copilot's seat next to him. After what she had been through in the past couple of days, he was honestly surprised at how well she was holding together. After all not many children he knew could have survived an attack by a rogue Sith Marauder as well as she had, the young girl had a great inner strength about her she would be a great warrior one day… he hoped.

"How do you feel _ad'ika?" _He asked when she finally woke up.

"W-Where am I? What happened?" She asked, her small voice stuttering groggily in confusion as she looked up at the familiar T-visor of a Mandalorian warrior. Her heart sank when she realized that the older man was not her father.

"Where's my _buir?" _She asked with tears welling up in her green eyes.

Cain merely shook his head sadly at this comment. How was he to tell a young girl that her father, her family was brutally slaughtered by some honor-less coward of a Sith? Fortunately, the girl seemed to understand his gesture and looked up towards the bulkhead trying in vain to subdue her grief. She nearly jumped when she felt a heavy hand soothingly squeeze her shoulder followed by the gravelly voice of her only companion.

"I'm tracking down the worthless _chakaar _who massacred your clan as we speak." The man in bloodstained armor said, "I'll take care of you."

"D-Did anyone… else make it?" She asked through her restrained sobs.

Cain knew the feeling all too well and when he looked towards the girl memories he thought to be long since dead started to slowly bubble back to the surface. He vowed silently that he would make the scum responsible for causing his young charge such pain suffer until he begged for death's sweet embrace. He shook these thoughts from his head yet again and stared back down to her.

"A child… younger than you found me when I landed." A deep synthesized voice from beneath the helmet said. "If it hadn't been for him I probably wouldn't have gotten to you in time."

"My little brother Orar's alive!" She almost squealed, causing Cain to wince even through the filters of his helmet. "Please tell me that he's ok please…"

"Slow down _ad'ika, _he's fine." Cain said, raising his hand from her shoulder and pointing down the corridor behind them. "Last I checked he was asleep in the port dorms. The kid actually faired better than you in this whole escapade."

Without another word, the girl stood up and left for the dorms as quickly as her shaky legs would carry her leaving Cain to his own devises.

When Orar woke up from his restless sleep, he was greeted by the pleasant surprise of seeing his sister staring down at him from the entry to his cabin.

"Runi!" He squealed before jumping to his feet and crushing his older sister in a vice-like embrace. It never ceased to amaze Runi how strong her little brother was, if their clan had survived Orar would have started traveling with their father on his jobs to train him to be a proper warrior. This line of thought of course did nothing to help her current emotional state and tears welled up in her eyes, and that's when she noticed Orar crying into her shoulder exclaiming how scarred he was for her, how he missed their parents, and many other grievances. This made her quickly take up the role of elder sibling forgetting her own plight and comforting her little brother.

"Come on Orar… maybe a little dinner would make us both feel better." Runi said in a soothing voice, trying to draw attention away from their current situation.

"That… sounds… good." He managed to choke out between tears. After regaining some semblance of composure, Orar slowly guided his sister towards the ship's small mess area. They were surprised when they saw their rescuer sitting at the only table in that room going over a data pad while eating some type of military ration that neither one of them could identify. That however is not what startled them; it was his eyes that made their blood run cold. The irises were the same gold as those of some great predatory beast with corneas blacker than coals. Runi was so taken aback by the sight that she almost didn't hear the older man's words.

"Are you even listening? I said that if you're hungry I don't have too much beyond

K-rations."

"Oh… Uh sorry that'll be fine." The flabbergasted girl stammered still staring at the man's striking eyes.

"Relax kid I didn't go through all the trouble of pulling your _shebse _out of that death-trap just so I could cause harm." Cain said noticing how nervously Runi was staring at him.

"I-I know, it's just, just that I've never seen eyes like yours before. Are they like ocular implants or something?" At her questions, Cain simply chuckled a few time and shook his head at the girl as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the entire galaxy. Runi bristled under the scrutiny of the older man. Thankfully, Orar stepped in before she could fire off a snide remark at Cain.

"You're a Taung aren't you?"

The question was both absurd and intriguing to Runi at the same time. Her parents had often told them stories about the infamous Taung warriors of the Mandalorian Wars before they went to bed. However it was impossible for the man before them to be a member of that noble breed, the Taung were all but extinct. That's all they were now, a legend to implant dreams of glory into the minds of young Mandalorians nothing more.

"Smart kid, but your only partially correct." Cain explained leaning back in his chair. "I'm not even a half breed, just some _shabuir _lucky enough to be gifted with a few drops of that noble blood."

Cain's face took on something akin to a wistful almost dreamy expression as he thought back on his heritage... and what it truly meant. It disturbed him to no end that he never knew his mother, the person responsible for his heritage. All he knew about her came from the old stories his father would tell him as a child. He didn't even know if his mother was alive or not, and frankly he didn't care. All he cared about at this moment was finding the _chakaar_ who was responsible for the massacre of Clan Bralor, and bring him to the most excruciatingly painful form of justice the young warrior could think of. Then there was the matter of what to do with the kids. The girl looked as if she had already gone through a few tiers of training as a warrior, but the boy looked as if he was barely old enough to begin the training. They needed a father, or an elder to do this or Clan Bralor would just be another lost in the ashes of history. Cain could not allow that, he swore to himself at that moment that he would teach them and raise them himself if he had to. At least then, they'd be amongst their own people. He owed Clan Bralor that much at least.

"Where are we going anyway?" Asked the boy, Orar that's what Cain heard the girl call him. The older man couldn't help but feel a little amused at bored expression plastered on the boy's face as he spoke.

"Eager for a good fight already are we _ad'ika_?" Cain couldn't help but laugh as Orar scrunched up his face at his apparently mocking query. "Calm down boy, we're heading for Yavin and we won't arrive for another four hours or so. You might as well get comfortable."

"But I'm bored."

"Ha… All in good time my boy… All in good time."

**The Ethereal: En Route to Yavin**

**Caeda spun **her lightsaber's violet blade in a defensive flourish in an attempt to dissuade her opponent from charging at her again. She didn't dare to take her eyes off of him as he slowly circled her, trying to corner the young Jedi in the cargo hold where her reach would be limited. Almost without warning, her foe lunged at her bringing his golden saber slamming down to meet her purple one. Caeda barely managed to parry the strike, but the force of the blow staggered her. Taking full advantage of her momentary weakness her foe delivered a hard kick to her exposed mid-section, knocking her onto her back. Milliseconds later Caeda felt the unmistakable heat of her opponent's saber mere inches away from her throat.

"Give up yet?" Atton Rand asked in his usual cocky tone.

"For the moment anyway." Caeda answered with a smile as her Master helped her back up to her feet.

"You're getting really good, you still need to work on your stance but you did much better than the last time."

"I let you win old man." Caeda retorted with a mischievous ring in her softly accented voice.

"I bet, just like you 'let' me win at pazaak." Atton countered, cocking his brow.

"Exactly."

It always amazed Atton at how determined and steadfast his Padawan could be one moment, and then the next she had an overtly friendly and approachable air about her.

He could still remember how she used to wander about the lower levels of Coruscant looking for anyone or anything in need of aid, even when she was just a young child Caeda exhibited an uncanny ability to heal injuries whether they were physical or mental. Atton's mind continued to wander as his Padawan bowed and headed towards the ship's refresher to clean up after their intense training session had ended.

Caeda couldn't help but feel some anxiety as she thought about their current mission. They had been sent on a mission to apprehend or execute a Dark Jedi by the name of Ulrich Fury who was spotted heading towards Yavin, an area that still reported Sith activity from time to time. Caeda couldn't help but worry about what may happen, this was her first experience hunting down another Force adept. Her master told her that the key to defeating a Sith was using their patience against them. "Never go on the offensive let them make the first move." Atton had always told her, but no matter how many times he told her, something about this particular operation felt strange. Like something, very important was going to occur on Yavin and no amount of training could possibly prepare her for it. Slowly Caeda entered the ship's refresher and allowed the steady flow of warm water hitting her skin to relax her and ease her troubled thoughts and soothe her sore aching muscles.

Some time later Caeda stepped out of the refresher and donned her peculiar suit of black and red armor in preparation for their arrival to Yavin.

"Your father would have been very proud of you, you know that right." Mission Vao said almost wistfully when she saw her friend enter the cockpit, donned in a refitted version of Revan's old battle armor. It was hard for the Twi'lek to believe that he had been gone for nearly two decades; at least he left behind a legacy. Whether he knew it or not, Caeda and Merrick were easily two of the most powerful force adepts in the galaxy, that's not saying much however since nearly all the Jedi and Sith were wiped out during the great purge.

"What was he like, my father I mean?" Caeda asked with some embarrassment. "Mother doesn't talk much about; she says it hurts too much."

Mission could understand where Bastila was coming from somewhat, his departure had hit them all pretty hard. Carth and Bastila were probably hit the hardest by it though. That was why everyone in the original crew, with the exception of Canderous stayed relatively close throughout the years.

"You're dad was very similar to you in personality, always going out of his way to help anyone he could. I always thought it was his way of making amends for all the wrongs he caused as the Dark Lord." Mission finally said, trying to do the man that she saw as a surrogate father justice in her explanation. "He was incredibly powerful too, but what I found to be his best trait was his ability to just relate to everyone no matter what they were going through."

"I wish I could have met him." Caeda said in a melancholic tone.

"As I said he'd be very proud of you."

A few seconds later the ship's navicomputer stated beeping incessantly, alerting them of their arrival at Yavin.

"That's interesting."

"What, is that a Sith ship?" Caeda asked in confusion.

"No look at the markings on its side, that's not a Sith symbol." Atton responded sternly as he entered the cockpit.

"They sure look creepy enough for a Sith."

"We're receiving a hail from the vessel, should I patch it through?" Mission asked, typing in several commands as they drew closer to the other ship.

"Yes, this should prove to be interesting." Atton answered with a roguish smile.

At his order, Mission began typing rapidly at the keys in front of her. A few seconds later the holo-projector activated, bringing a warrior clad in full body armor and brandishing the unmistakable T-visor of his people into full view.

"This is Mandalorian business, turn back now Jedi I have no desire to kill you along with my quarry." The gravelly voice from behind the Mandalorian's mask said.

"Jeez, not much for conversation is he?"

"Quiet Mission." Atton admonished the Twi'lek in an uncharacteristically stern voice.

"Who exactly is your target, and why?"

The Mandalorian seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding.

"The _chakaar _SithI hunt is responsible for the near annihilation of a Mandalorian Clan, by honor and right his head belongs to us."

"You can't seriously be thinking of hunting down a Sith on your own, he'll slaughter you." Caeda almost yelled, to her Master's disapproval.

"Keep that child's tongue in check Master Rand, or I might be forced to remove it for her own sake."

The cold menace of his voice actually sent a deathly chill up Caeda's spine, and the fact that the cold emotionless T-visor had settled on her didn't help matters much either.

"I apologize for her behavior; she is still just a Padawan." Atton noticed Caeda flinch as he put emphasis on the last word. "However I do believe that we should probably join forces to deal with this Dark Jedi, rest assured however that you will be the first to engage him. We merely need to retrieve an object that he stole from the Temple."

"That… is acceptable. I'll meet you planet-side in half an hour." The Mandalorian said giving Caeda another analyzing stare before his image winked out from view.

"Are they all like that?" Caeda asked her Master.

"No, He was actually being friendly."

"You're kidding right?" Caeda asked with a nervous chuckle.

"I wish I was." Atton responded. "Follow his ship Mission; I don't want any surprises from this one."

"I'm on it." Mission answered tailing the Mandalorian vessel as closely as possible without raising suspicion.

**Yavin: Massassi Ruins**

**Ulrich stood **in awe at the entrance to the largest of the temples constructed by the powerful Sith Lord Exar Kun several decades before. Within this temple lay an artifact that would bestow upon him unnatural power. The Jedi Master named Mira stood next to him arms in chains, a force disruption collar around her throat, and barely conscious. He required this Jedi to open the gargantuan gates, which blocked his path to greater power. The old Jedi had sealed this once glorious triumph of the Dark Side after the war with Kun, and only a Jedi with the appropriate experience and an ancient Jedi crystal could unlock the gates. This is what led Ulrich to capturing this one while she was aiding refugees on some unremarkable dirtball of a world. After a moment, Ulrich dropped the incapacitated Jedi to the ground and prepared himself to enter the temple's hallowed grounds. His sense of urgency suddenly spiked when he noticed a pair of ships roared overhead. One he recognized as a Mandalorian vessel, likely some fool wishing to reap their vengeance on him for what he did to their Clan, this didn't even faze the Dark Jedi. The other ship however sent a cold chill down his spine, for he noticed the markings of the Jedi Order engraved upon its hull. Both vessels landed a bit too close for his comfort; He knew he'd have to act quickly in order to get within the Temple before they tracked him down.

**Yavin: Landing Area**

**The Ethereal's **engines slowly died down as small ship touched down on Yavin's lush surface, only a few meters away from the Mandalorian's ship.

"We might as well go out and meet our grumpy friend." Atton said as he stood up from his seat in the ship's lounge. "Mission, stay with the ship and keep the engines warmed up in case we need to make a fast retreat."

"Whatever you say, I don't like jungles much anyway." Mission answered from her seat in the cockpit. Atton looked down toward Caeda as she donned her father's old helmet, and motioned for her to follow him out of their ship. Upon exiting their transport the two Jedi were greeted by the bizarre sight of two children training with staves under the watching visor of the older Mandalorian they had spoken to earlier. Righteous anger welled up in Caeda's gut at this sight not the children being trained as their culture dictates, but at the fact that this Mandalorian would place these children in danger by bringing them with him to hunt down a Sith. She wanted to say something about it, but the Mandalorian was much more intimidating in person. He towered over her at more than six feet tall, clad in blue and green armor with a design on his helmet reminiscent of a skull, and to top it all off dark red marks which appeared to be blood streaked a crossed his armor in gruesome designs.

"You bear the armor of a dead clan." The Mandalorian stated with a close approximation to surprise in his voice.

"This was my father's armor." Caeda said, immediately going on the defensive.

"Calm down _Jetii. _I just wasn't expecting to meet an exile."

"Exile?" Caeda almost choked on the question.

"My Padawan is no exile from the clans; she merely wears the armor her father took during the Mandalorian wars." Atton said jumping in to prevent any conflicts from erupting between the two hot headed teens.

"So this is the offspring of the great Revan? Can't say I'm too impressed." Cain said with a deep laugh. The blood rushed to Caeda's face at the insults that this Mandalorian who had just met her and therefore knew nothing about her directed at her.

"And why am I so lackluster in your view Mandalorian?" Caeda asked putting her visor covered face as close to Cain's as she could, in an attempt to put the larger man off balance. This however was a very bad idea on her part as Cain grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground by her neck.

"For one thing a true warrior wouldn't have left an opening for an attack like you just did child." Cain growled as spots began to appear in Caeda's vision.

"Put her down!" shrieked a young voice from behind Cain.

The older Mandalorian looked down to see the boy, Orar holding onto his _kama _and staring up at him as if he were the boy's father. At Orar's request Cain released his ironclad grip on Caeda's throat and let her drop to the ground gasping for breath. It was at this point that Cain noticed that the other Jedi had his lightsaber mere inches away from the back of his neck. At this, he merely nodded his head respectfully toward the older Jedi as he knelt down beside Caeda to treat her relatively minor injuries.

After a few moments, Caeda was back up on her feet glaring daggers at Cain who merely chuckled at her.

Sensing another conflict in the air Atton strategically placed himself between his apprentice and the much taller Mandalorian.

"Both of you need to calm down now! We can all go back to killing each other when we've brought the Sith to justice, now come on."

Cain ordered the two kids not to stray away from his ship and began to follow the two Jedi into Yavin's dense jungle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Revenge for the Fallen**

**Yavin: En Route to the Temple of Exar Kun**

**The dense **undergrowth of Yavin's jungles seamed to be in existence just to hinder Caeda's movements. If she ducked beneath a low branch, she was almost always greeted by a rotten log or large rock just waiting to trip her up. She had already fallen twice and gotten separated from her Master a good two hours ago. Eventually her foot became stuck in what she hoped was just mud, but that's when she realized that she couldn't move her other leg either. Caeda began to feel a primal fear growing in her gut as she slowly began to sink into the filthy muck, and let out a loud cry for help that she prayed would be heard.

Atton and Cain had been searching the jungle for over an hour in the hopes of finding their lost comrade. Honestly, Atton was more than a little surprised that the Mandalorian hadn't just abandoned them to their fates and gone after the Dark Jedi himself. Fortunately, Mandalorians were not like other mercenaries, and lived by a strict code of honor that wouldn't allow them to betray their word.

"I'm picking something up on my audio scanners." Cain announced suddenly, causing Atton to focus all of his attention in the direction Cain indicated. As he probed the area through the Force, he could feel the stress and fear emanating from his apprentice.

"She's in trouble lets go!"

"As you wish."

The mud was now up to Caeda's waist, and her throat was raw from screaming for help. She had originally attempted to use the Force to pull herself free, but there was nothing sturdy enough or close enough for her to use as leverage. The young Jedi was just about to lose hope when the familiar voice of her Master echoed through the dense foliage around her.

"Caeda! Can you hear my voice?"

"Quiet Jedi… listen." Cain ordered as the faint response of Caeda's voice resounded through the trees.

"Where are you?" Atton yelled at the top of his lungs, trying desperately to find his Padawan before any harm could befall her. Atton was rewarded when he heard another muffled call for help to his right; this one seemed to be louder than the last one. The Mandalorian had been correct at nearly every turn in their search, it made Atton wonder what all was in that armor of his that made it so easy to track his apprentice down. After making a quick mental note to ask at a better time he ran towards Caeda's voice with Cain close behind him.

The mud was nearly up to Caeda's shoulders when the familiar face of her worried Master and the imposing Mandalorian burst from the underbrush surrounding her. Caeda waited for the insults to begin issuing from the bounty hunter over her clumsiness or her lack of skill, but was pleasantly surprised when never did.

"Do either of you happen to have a rope? I'm… uh, kind of stuck here."

"Yeah just give me a second." Cain ordered as he pointed his right gauntlet at the stricken Padawan. Caeda flinched as a lasso shot out and wrapped itself around her shoulders. Pressure began to build around her back as she felt herself being pulled back to the relative safety of solid ground.

After several long minutes of discomfort and strain, Caeda was finally free from the treacherous pit of mud she had so foolishly stepped in more than two hours ago.

"Thank you." Caeda said grudgingly as she stood back on her feet again.

"Can we get back to the task at hand… without any foolish mistakes this time?"

Caeda considered making another retort but thought against it in favor of accomplishing the mission at hand. Still something about the Mandalorian was bothering the young Jedi, like a gnawing at the back of her mind. She knew that she had felt presences similar to his but she just could not recall when or where.

"Well, excluding the chances of any further incidents. We should be closing in on the main temple within an hour or so." Atton said as they all began walking again.

**Yavin: Temple of Exar Kun**

**Ulrich Fury **stood within the heart of the greatest of Exar Kun's temples; the smoking corpse of a freshly killed terentatek lay at his feet. The great beast had put up a good fight in its defense of the temple, but nothing would stand in the way of Ulrich and his prize. Within the great vault, which now stood before him was a holocron created the great Sith Exar Kun himself. With the teachings contained within the holocron Ulrich would become the greatest Force wielder in the galaxy. Legions upon legions of loyal soldiers would stand at his side as he raised the Republic and the pathetic Jedi Order to the ground. Then Ulrich would finally be able to take the mantel of the galaxies only sole ruler, a dark emperor without equal. A cruel venomous smile crossed his lips as he thought about how the power he had lusted after for so many years would finally be his for the taking. Already the worn and cracked doors to the vault began to part as Fury concentrated all of his power at the great doors. Within the dusty vault stood but a single pedestal upon which was the small black pyramidal holocron of Exar Kun. Ulrich stood for a moment at the threshold of the vault. Not wishing to risk any further traps Ulrich used the Force to draw the holocron to him rather than dare to step within the vault itself. Once Kun's holocron was safely in his possession, the Dark Jedi turned and headed towards the temple's only exit. As he neared the exit, he stopped abruptly for a sight that made his blood boil over with hatred stood at the entrance.

Before the enraged Sith stood two Jedi and a Mandalorian. The older Jedi was crouched over the unconscious body of his captive, trying to heal her injuries. Unsurprisingly the Mandalorian was the first to advance towards him, two blades extending from his right gauntlet as he approached.

"The fallen demand retribution Sith scum." Cain growled at his enemy.

Ulrich merely chuckled at the threat and activated his crimson saber. Slowly the dark Jedi circled Cain looking for any weaknesses in his defense. Cain was the first to strike however, hoping to catch his target off guard. Taken aback by the sudden ferocity of the Mandalorian's attacks Ulrich was barely capable of keeping his head attached to his shoulders, let alone think about engaging in a counterattack of his own. The Sith had speed and agility on his side, but it was no match for the superior strength and nearly indestructible armor his foe wore. Ulrich's only hope was that somehow the behemoth would make some sort of mistake or tire at some point. His chance came when Cain swung too hard and exposed his back to the Sith. Ulrich took full advantage of this momentary weakness and swung hard for his back. Surprisingly the Mandalorian made no move to evade the burning energy blade. Ulrich got his answer as to why the moment his blade struck Cain's armored back and merely deflected to the side. Before he could recover from the shock of his weapon's uselessness, Ulrich felt a sharp piercing pain surge through his gut, the metallic taste of blood welled up in his mouth. When he looked down toward the source of his pain, he noticed the two blades rammed deeply into his belly. It all suddenly made sense to him when he thought back on the fight. The Mandalorian had made no mistakes he was merely setting Ulrich up for the killing blow. Painful pressure began to build in his gut as he felt himself lifted up to eye level with his executioner's visor. Ulrich's barely conscious mind focused on a small gap between the breastplates of Cain's armor, and in one last desperate act of defiance raised his saber and shoved it as hard as his weak arms would allow into the small gap. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the now lifeless body of Ulrich fury fell to the ground and the Mandalorian staggered backwards and fell to his knees clutching at the blackened hole in the center of his chest. The Sith's saber had seared his left lung causing it to fill with fluid. The simple act of breathing was excruciating in itself, stars began to float in Cain's vision. He had to lie down or else he would pass out, Cain could already feel darkness clouding his mind. Slowly he fell backwards toward the solid ground of the temple, but was surprised when he felt a pair of hands grab hold of his shoulders and slowly ease him into laying flat on his back. He looked up to see the face of the young Jedi who had accompanied him on this mission before finally blacking out.

"I'm losing him, Master help me remove these plates." Caeda ordered, frantically trying to find a clasp or something that would detach the armor from Cain's injured torso. After a few tense moments, she was rewarded with the slight clicking sound of the plates coming loose from Cain's under-suit. The injury was deceptively small, no bigger around than a coin but Caeda knew that it was far deeper than it initially appeared. She could feel the Mandalorian's life slipping away through the Force, his left lung had been seared and the spasms of the injured organ had only caused small tears to form around the arteries and blood loss was becoming a very serious factor. Caeda knew that she could save this man's life, but it would drastically change hers forever. Her mother had taught Caeda the secret of how to bind her life force with that of another, but that usually resulted in a deep connection forming between the individuals afterwards. Creating the bond was the only way to keep this man alive, and as a Jedi, she could not sit idly by while she knew that only she could save them. Closing her eyes, she concentrated all of her healing abilities on Cain and slowly bound her strong life force with his dying one.

Atton watched in amazement as the hole in the Mandalorian's chest quickly began to knit itself back together, in fact he seemed to be healing faster than an average person should even with the aid of a Jedi. Something was very strange about this particular Mandalorian, he would have to have his contacts in the rim keep an eye on him after this was all finished.

A beleaguered groan interrupted Atton from his thoughts when he noticed that Mira was regaining consciousness. Slowly he walked over to his fellow Jedi and gently helped her to her feet.

"Atton? W-What's going on? Are we safe?" Mira's thoughts were racing from the events of the past few days. First, she had been helping refugees escape slavery in Hut Space. Then she got captured by a young Sith who brought her to this world, wherever it was. Now she was back face to face with her fellow Jedi.

"Calm down, your safe now Mira." Atton said assuredly, as he offered her some food and water from his ration pack. "I'll tell you on the way back to the ships. Can you walk alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little disoriented." Mira said, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it and readjust to the conscious world.

"What happened to Fury?" She asked, her voice becoming more serious now.

"You can thank him when he comes to." Atton answered gesturing at the Mandalorian that was sprawled out on the ground next to Caeda.

"What happened?"

"As I said, I'll tell you everything on the way back to the ships." Atton responded as he pulled Mira toward the jungle when a cylindrical object caught her eye. Mira broke Atton's grip and picked it up before rejoining him.

**The Black Phoenix: En Route to Coruscant**

Cain could hear voices around him as he slowly returned to consciousness. Light nearly blinded him, as he opened his eyes, catching him off guard since his helmet's visor automatically adjusted to changes in light. That could only mean someone had removed it while he was unconscious. His heart began to beat rapidly as he thought about being the captive of some worthless slaver, when a soft warm hand pressed against his bandaged chest and forced him to lie back down.

"Your fine Mando boy, you're back on your ship with your kids. Just lie down and rest for now." The soft cultured voice of a young woman said as Cain's eyes slowly began to adjust to his surroundings.

"Where's my _buy'ce_?" Cain asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Caeda cocked her head to the side at the utterance of such unfamiliar words.

"I'm sorry, your what?"

"My helmet, where is it?" Cain asked, turning his head to meet Caeda's gaze.

His unique eye colors seemed to shock the young woman who just stared at him for a moment before giving him an answer.

"Your, uh armor is in the container under your bed." Caeda said, never taking her focus from the Mandalorian's strange eyes. Without so much as another word Cain got up from his bed faster than Caeda could react, and stood before her in nothing more than a pair of loose fitting pants and the bandages on his torso.

"You shouldn't be moving about so soon after the injuries you received." Caeda protested while grabbing Cain's arm and trying to move him back toward his bed, only to have him wrench free from her grip and glare at her.

"Look, I appreciate your help and everything but this is my ship, and there is only one person other than myself who may order me around on _my_ ship and you aren't him." Cain said in a threatening tone that warned the young Jedi not to argue with him, "Now, are we still planet-side or did you take the liberty of flying my ship in my absence?"

"We are three hours from Coruscant; I believe that we may have some work for you there." Caeda answered, trying not to stare at her companions' striking eyes.

"My services don't come cheap." Cain responded as he slowly latched the individual plates of his armor back on to his under-suit. "And if I don't agree with the reasons for my employment, or if I see that it goes against my honor there will be consequences. However severe are up to you."

Caeda's blood boiled at how this Mandalorian, who was barely older than she was talked down to her as if she were a child without any knowledge of consequences. She almost regretted creating the bond with him, but she held her tongue remembering what happened the last time she had gotten in his face.

"He's awake! Runi, get in here he's awake!" A small voice yelled excitedly as a young boy ran into the room and slammed into the much taller man, followed by an older girl who embraced Cain in a similar fashion.

A small chuckle escaped Caeda's lips as she saw, and felt the confusion wash over the Mandalorian. It was also somewhat refreshing to see that he had a human side to him after witnessing his murderous rage firsthand.

"D-Did you kill him? The one who destroyed our _aliit_?" the girl asked, looking up at Cain hopefully. Cain knelt down so that he was at eye level with Runi and clasped his hand to her shoulder before speaking. "Your clan can rest easy now, _ad'ika_."

It was a simple statement, but it meant a lot to the two younger members of the ships' current crew.

"Yes, well speaking of the Sith… Mira wanted me to give you this." Caeda said, as she unclipped a lightsaber from her belt and handed it to Cain, "she said it was a trophy or something like that."

Cain took the traditional weapon and activated its crimson blade mere inches away from his face, as if he were inspecting it.

"You Jedi may not understand what this 'trophy' means, but thank you."

Caeda could have sworn that she saw some sadness and a grudging respect flash in Cain's alien eyes when he looked at her. _Maybe he's not as bad as he seems, after all, he is kind of handsome and those kids seem to like him._

"I'll be in the cockpit, if you're done making goo-goo eyes at me," Cain said after donning his helmet and clipping his trophy to his belt.

"I was not making… that is I was merely… ugh never mind." Caeda stuttered in exasperation as she followed Cain back towards the cockpit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bonds Forged**

**Black Phoenix: Exiting Hyperspace**

**Cain sat **in the copilot's seat, obviously not overtly pleased about allowing a Republic pilot to fly his ship. Mission was just lucky that Caeda had stepped in before the Mandalorian crushed her lekku. She didn't even remember Canderous being that aggressive, but then again she was still just a kid back then and Canderous had been slightly less threatening towards her.

"Entering Coruscant's orbit in three… two… one."

The Black Phoenix dropped out of hyperspace into the overcrowded traffic that plagued Coruscant's shimmering orbit. Runi looked out of the window in her room at the amazing view of the cityscape beneath her. She had heard her father speak of the heart of the Republic and its planet-wide metropolis, but she had never imagined something so breathtaking. To her eyes, it was like a massive jewel glinting in the light of its star. 

"Beautiful isn't it?" A female voice asked from behind Runi, causing her to spin around in surprise to see the Jedi girl standing in her doorway. "I pretty much grew up here you know."

Runi looked up at the older woman with an open sense of suspicion and mistrust, her family had been killed by a Force wielder and she was not about to let her guard down around one.

"What do you want?" Runi asked in a tone that warned Caeda not to try anything.

Caeda could understand that the poor girl was still obviously shaken from her experience at the hands of Ulrich, but she was no Sith and felt a pang of indignation in her gut at even being compared to such a person. 

"Relax, I merely wish to ask you a few questions." Caeda said raising her hands in a gesture of peace.

"Then ask Cain, 'cause I sure don't want to talk to you." Runi growled, never taking her eyes off the intruder. 

"Look, I'm not here to cause you any harm… I just had some questions in need of answering. You can agree or disagree to answering them if you want to." Caeda said in a soothing voice, enforcing her words ever so slightly with the Force. It obviously worked because seconds later the girl relaxed a bit and gave Caeda a reassuring nod.

"What do you wish to know?" Runi asked her voice still tinged with distrust but not as much as before.

"Are there Force sensitives amongst the Mandalorians?"

"Probably, we don't really test people for that kind of stuff." Runi answered dismissively.

"What would happen if a Mandalorian was discovered to be Force sensitive?" 

"Nothing, they'd probably either ignore it or call the person who told them crazy."

Not an answer that Caeda was hoping for, this could very easily hinder the plans for rebuilding the Jedi Order, but there was still one more question in need of answering.

"What if Mandalore ordered them to learn how to harness it?" Caeda asked with a hopeful glint in her eye.

"Then they would learn how to use the Force… Mandalore's word is law."

"Thank you for your time… I'll leave you alone now." Caeda said with a respectful bow before leaving the young girl to her own devices.

"Careful with that! If you so much as scratch my baby… No that's the landing gear. You almost activated the ship's auto targeting systems." Cain griped trying to tell Mission how to land his ship, causing the Twi'lek woman to become stressed, and make more mistakes that Cain was all too eager to point out. 

"Look, I know how to fly a ship! Now stop nagging me!" Mission ordered, slapping the younger man's hands away from the controls.

"If you much as scratch my ship… your lekku will join my trophies."

"Relax Mando boy… you're worse than Carth I swear." Mission said with a chuckle.

"Just get us planet-side."

**Coruscant: Jedi Temple Docks**

**How much **longer are those kids gonna take? I'm old enough as it is and I don't wish to spend the rest of my life in this confounded hangar."

"They only just transmitted their ship's ID signature to us, and it was you who insisted on waiting out here Master Bindo." Bastila pointed out as she rose from her meditative position next to the pacing Grand Master.

Almost as if on queue, a Mandalorian freighter began its long awaited descent into the spacious hangar in front of the two awaiting Masters.

Bastila stood next to Jolee in silence as the exit ramp lowered from the black ship, revealing three figures standing within, two were those of humans the third was obviously that of a Twi'lek.

"It seems that the guest Atton informed us of has arrived." 

"And he hasn't either of the girls… I take that as a good sign." Jolee said with a chuckle as the trio descended the exit ramp into the light of the landing bay.

Upon seeing her mother standing just outside of the ramp, Caeda swiftly walked over towards her and embraced the older woman in a hug.

"Welcome home my dear." Bastila said in an uncharacteristically warm voice as they broke away from the embrace.

"Yeah warm fuzzies all around… I assume that you had your daughter bring me here for more than just the pleasure of having me blow chunks in my visor." 

"And this grumpy oaf is Mando boy." Caeda said with a slight chuckle as she noticed Cain stiffen at her apparent nickname for him.

"The name's Cain… now can we please just get down to business?" 

"Calm down boy… Life's short enough as it is." Jolee said from where he stood, utterly dwarfed by the younger man, "And from what I've heard, you need some proper rest before you do anything."

"As long as I can grip a blaster I can accomplish your bounty." Cain said, trying not to think about the sharp pain that welled up in his chest every time he took a breath. 

"I meant no offense kid… Come you will be our guest for time being."

At his word, the small group followed the old man through the vast halls of the Jedi Temple. 

As they walked, Caeda could feel how tense Cain was through her newly formed bond with him. She had heard stories that Mandalorians harbored a mistrust for Force sensitives, but Caeda knew that wasn't it. It was almost as if he was trying to avoid her specifically. _Could he know about our bond? _Shaking her head at the implications of her thoughts, Caeda realized that they had all stopped in the section of the temple, which held the dormitories. 

"You will be our guest for the night… we will discuss the terms of your employment in the morning." Bastila stated in a cultured tone that left no room for argument from the younger man. 

"I appreciate this, but what about my kids? They've been through a lot these past few days and I'd prefer to stay as close as possible to them."

"I'll send someone to get them while my daughter helps you get settled in." Bastila responded, looking amusedly at her daughters' surprised reaction.

"I'll be fine, just summon me in the morning."

With these final words, Cain turned and entered the quarters that had been prepared for him. Hours later Cain was laying on the bed in his quarters, tossing and turning every few minutes in a vain attempt to find a position in which he could fall asleep. The bed was comfortable the room was sparsely furnished but still nice, yet Cain couldn't seem to fall asleep. He could almost feel another presence near him, almost like it was in his head. It wasn't a distressing presence, in fact, it was quite soothing but Cain did not enjoy the idea of sharing his mind with someone else. He had been conditioned relatively early on in his training to resist and detect when his mind was being probed by a Force user. This was different however; it was almost like it was a part of him. Cain tossed and turned in his bed for several more minutes before he couldn't take it any more, he had go for a walk or something to clear his mind. He groggily shook his head as he stood up from his resting place and began to don one of his few sets of civilian clothes, a pair of loose pants, a collarless black shirt, and his armored boots. When he finally opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of Caeda, who jumped back from the door in surprise.

"Uh… Cain, I was just hoping to speak with you… If it's not too much trouble." She said while trying to regain her lost composure.

"What about?"

"We just need to talk… about recent developments." She answered, beckoning him to follow her. The pair walked in silence through the massive Temple's halls for some time before reaching the front entrance. Caeda stopped abruptly in front of her Mandalorian companion and turned to meet his alien gaze. Cain was struck by the intense beauty of the young woman standing before him; she had her mothers' striking silver eyes and pale skin. How could he have not noticed this back on his ship? It was like all of her most beautiful features stood out more clearly to him, that is when the feeling of the foreign presence within his mind began to resurface causing Cain to shake himself out of his unintentional stupor. He realized then that this young woman, this Jedi was responsible for it somehow. 

"You undoubtedly have already felt it haven't you?" She asked, her intense eyes burning a hole in his very soul.

"I feel an outside presence around my mind, yes."

"Good, that is what I wished to talk to you about." Caeda said as they continued to walk out of the Temple and through the relatively busy streets of the Galactic Capital.

"When you fought Ulrich, he should have by all rights killed you when he impaled you. Do you remember?"

Yeah, don't remind me." Cain responded absently noting the dull pain in his chest as took a deep breath. "But what does that have to do with the weird presence that I feel?" 

"I was getting to that," Caeda admonished with a huff. "When I revived you, I had to tie in my life-force with yours creating a powerful bond between the two of us in the process." 

Cain looked dumbstruck for a moment as he attempted to wrap his mind around the greater meaning of this bond. Caeda could feel a myriad of confused emotions crossing through the Mandalorian's mind before he spoke again.

"How exactly does this… bond work?" Cain asked, finally constructing a question in his flabbergasted state.

"In short, whatever you feel I can pick up on. I can sense your presence just as you can feel mine; in extreme cases we may even share one-another's pain."

"Is there no way to remove it, or block it out?" He asked, his voice showing signs of great interest in the new development.

"Unfortunately there is no real way to remove it, if anything it will continue to become stronger over even years of separation, and the closer we are to one another the faster this bond will grow." Caeda explained as Cain regained control over his emotions and stared at here with his shimmering golden eyes. 

"Very well then, what do you suggest we do now?" 

"Personally… I'd like to get to know the person I am to share my bond with better." Caeda said with an almost hopeful intonation in her cultured voice.

"That some kind of clumsy come on, Jedi?" 

Despite his mocking tone and choice of response, Caeda was relieved by the lax nature of his reaction to potentially distressing news. She couldn't help but stare into his golden eyes again, despite their striking appearance Caeda found them to be almost endearing with a strength and underlying wisdom that was way beyond the young Mandalorian's years. In her trance, Caeda suddenly realized that Cain was waiting for her response with an amused grin on his face.

"Believe me Mandalorian… If I was attracted to you I would have made up a much better 'pick up' line than that." She admonished, trying not to blush and think if she really could have done just that.

"Relax girl… what do wish to know about me?"

"I'd like to know why you were on Yavin in the first place for one." Caeda asked, thinking back to their rocky first meeting.

"I was hunting down Ulrich."

"I am aware of that," Caeda admonished, "but why were you pursuing him?"

"It is a Mandalorian matter." Cain said, regretting ever giving Caeda the chance to ask him these questions and hoping that she would just drop this part of her interrogation. He wasn't that lucky however, as the young Jedi continued to pester him with her question as they began their walk through Coruscant's busy walkways. Finally, Cain stopped in the middle of a walkway near the shopping district and turned to stare down his companion. 

"That _chakaar _Ulrich nearly killed an entire clan of my people. Orar and Runi are all that remain of clan Bralor", Cain explained in a low growl, "Honor demanded that he die by the hand of a Mandalorian."

"Oh, I am sorry… I didn't wish to upset you," Caeda apologized, refusing to meet his black gaze, "I merely wished to get to know you better."

Cain just shook his head and chuckled, a definite good sign for Caeda was beginning to think that he lacked any ability to laugh.

"Honestly what is there to know about me? Hmm?" The Mandalorian asked, still chuckling on occasion, "I'm the grumpy mercenary you met on Yavin while hunting a Sith. What more is there?"

"Well, What clan are you from?"

"Ha, an _areutii _who realizes the significance of our clans that's rich!" Cain laughed, twice in a few minutes; this was truly a record in Caeda's mind. Even if he was laughing at her.

"Why would you care which of the many clans I come from, I wonder?"

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," the young Jedi answered apprehensively

"Fine, I come from clan Ordo… Now my question?"

"Ordo? My father traveled with Canderous Ordo during the war." Now it was Caeda's turn to show shock, not only was Cain bonded to her, but he was also related to a close friend of her father's. The Force most definitely had plans for the two of them.

"Yeah, father told me all about their exploits during the war," Cain said matter-of-factly, "Any other questions, Jedi?"

Initially Caeda's reaction was to let the Mandalorian off the hook and just enjoy a quiet walk back to the temple, but as they turned around to make their return, Caeda noticed the slight clanking noise around Cain's hip. When she looked down, she saw that he was carrying no less than four lightsabers on his belt.

"I couldn't help but notice the sabers you carry, how did you come by them?"

"Before you start getting suspicious Jedi," Cain pulled one of the sabers from his belt and handed it to her for examination. When she looked at the markings on the hilt she could discern that this lightsaber once belonged to a Sith.

"How do I know that the others weren't the property of a survivor of the purge?"

With that, Cain pulled out another saber, with the ornate hilt of a master swordsman, and ignited the blood red blade in the middle of a crowded street full of now terrified citizens.

"Ok ok, you've convinced me," Caeda said placaitingly, "now put that away before you incite mass hysteria."

Seeing the horrified looks of people as they tried to avoid the pair, Cain nodded and placed, his trophies back on his belt and continued their trek back to the temple.

"What about you Jedi, your life any more interesting than mine?"

This question caught Caeda off guard for a moment; she hadn't expected Cain to take an interest, however vague, in her.

"Ah, so now you're making up a clumsy Mandalorian come-on are you?"

Cain merely shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "you've picked my brain for personal info, and I believe it to be polite for possible future employers to tell me a bit about themselves."

Caeda arched her brows at Cain had mentioned, at least he was persistent.

"Well, I am the daughter of Bastila Shan and Revan for starters; I was born in a small town on Talravin, as was my brother Merrick. Anything more… specific that you wanted to know?"

"Why did you save my life?" he asked, his beautiful golden eyes burrowing deeply into her grey ones. She couldn't tell which one made her less comfortable, his withering gaze or the question he had asked. Honestly, she didn't even know the answer; they had almost fought each other upon their first meeting. The force had just told her not to allow this man to die, and she couldn't quite understand it so how was she supposed to explain it to a man whose culture never put much value in such things as the Force?

"I-I really don't quite know how to explain it to tell the truth," she said after a moment as they neared the temple, "and I don't suppose saying that the Force told me to do it is much of an explanation for you is it?"

"Hnh, no not really," he said with a chuckle as they walked up the steps to the great temple, "At least you don't seem to have some sort of ulterior motive about it, and that's all I care about." 

With that Cain nodded towards the young Jedi and made his way back to his quarters for some sleep. Caeda stood there in the hall in deep thought before she at last made her way back to her room in the other hall. She went to sleep wondering at what events the next day would hold for her, and more importantly: how the other new adepts would perceive their latest member.


End file.
